Actions Speak Louder than Words
by Gollum4077
Summary: Hammersley search for 2 hostages on an Indo theft boat. But the 1 hostage they pick up is unlike any other they've rescued, and soon, she makes some crew members re-think how they see and think of certain people. S4/5...STILL ON HIATUS! SORRY!
1. Author's Note!

**SEA PATROL AUTHOR'****S NOTE!**

**VERY IMPORTANT!**

Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews and stuff! I got most of the subscriptions, favourite's alerts and stuff all within 2 hours! I can't believe you guys are so dedicated to Sea Patrol! I love you guys! Thank you HEAPS for all of your reviews and comments!

Now, as requested, these are roughly the pairings:

Mike/Kate (duh!) Ryan/Bird (for those of you who've forgotten Ryan, he's Commander White's son who went head over heels for Bird when they first met), they're both 17, and really cute!) Will include Bird/Dutchy friendship.

Now, this thing with 2Dads, RO, and Bomber is getting very complicated, and is starting to cheese me off slightly. Spider left, which sucks. So I've kinda given up on RO/Bomber because it really doesn't seem to be working out. Oh well, sorry to disappoint some fans. I think I'll go:

Slight 2Dads/Bomber, dunno who to pair RO with- just friendship with Bird for now, they seem to get on okay (well- recently)

And now… a bit of 2Dads/OC. Things will progress, you'll see. Writing more ASAP!

Thanks again peoples!

Gollum4077!


	2. Short Lived Enjoyment

**Chapter 1: Short-Lived Enjoyment**

"To another 24 hours of pure enjoyment and fun!" declared Charge, as he held up his drink. The other crew members of Hammersley raised their glasses together in agreement of their toast. They all cried "Cheers!" and sculled their drinks in enthusiasm. There was much chatter and laughter in the bar. They wanted to get as much out of the remaining shore leave as possible.

Charge, Swain, and Dutchy were making absurd jokes, while Bird laughed until her stomach hurt, looking at Dutchy in pure awe. 2Dads was sitting right next to Bomber, who didn't seem too bothered with him being so close. They were talking and smiling (slightly embarrassed) at each other, while R.O. quietly looked on, as usual sitting slightly isolated from the group, but nearer to Bird. Everyone seemed happy. But two were missing from the group.

"So, have you thought anymore about that shore-posting?"

Mike looked up from his meal, only to see Kate McGregor's eyes intently fixed on him. She was burning to know an answer; she had been pressing him for weeks. Mike sighed.

"Commander White said they have a few options for new CO of Hammersley, but it may take them a few weeks to commission someone." Kate glared at him, not so happy with the last part of the sentence.

"Is that all Maxine told you?" Kate inquired coolly.

"That's all I know right now." Mike answered honestly. It was Kate's turn to sigh now.

"Mike, you keep saying weeks, but it's been months! I don't know how much more of this I can take!"

"I'm sorry Kate; I'm trying I really am, but the-" Mike was cut off by his phone ringing. He checked the number, it was familiar. He pressed the answer button:

"Maxine, what up?"

"_Sorry to interrupt your shore-leave Mike, but something urgent has come up."_ came Commander White's reply over the phone.

"What sort of urgent?" Kate raised her eyebrows at his question.

"_Well, a __small Australian cargo vessel carrying firearms, weapons, and ammunition was robbed off the coast nearly an hour ago."_

"Really? Who by?"

"_Pirates, they suspect Indonesian. They were in illegal waters, but they can't be too far. It's about 85 miles north-west of your area, Hammersley could probably catch it up more easily than any other options at the moment."_

"What about Coast Watch?"

"_O__n the lookout, they'll give us info the moment they see them. But for now, we need you guys. We need those goods retrieved. I'm calling Hammersley to be scheduled to leave at 0300 hours. Call your crew to report be back by 2300."_

"Will do Maxine. Thanks." said Mike as professionally as possible."

"_Oh, and Mike? Sorry for ending the celebrations early. I'll add an extra 24 hours next time, so you won't be interrupted again."_

"Thanks, bye." said Mike, hanging up. He put his hand to his head, rubbing his temples.

"What is it?" asked Kate worryingly.

"An Aussie boat's been robbed of important weaponry; we need to call everyone back now."

Kate groaned at this. They got up together, paid for their dinner, and walked outside, as Mike started dialling numbers to let his crew know they were needed. Kate followed suit. What they didn't know was that they were getting themselves into a _very_ dangerous situation.


	3. Search and Rescue and

**Chapter 2: Search and Rescue and…..**

"This is ridiculous! Just about every time we get a break, something happens!" exclaimed a slightly drunken 2Dads, as if it was the most unjust thing ever to occur in the universe.

"Yeah, well, you wanna do your job; you take your orders, get on the boat, and get on with it." Replied Dutchy calmly. Charge and Swain nodded their heads in half-drunken agreement.

"So, what did the X say this was about?" asked Bird curiously. Bomber answered her question.

"Something about some guns and ammo getting stolen. We've gotta get it back, the weapons are for military purposes, so it must be important."

"Yeah, as if nothing the military does is important." Remarked R.O. sarcastically. He was secretly kinda glad they could get back to work. He needed something to get things off his mind.

"Well, whatever it is, the CO will probably give us the low-down any minute now." said Charge, saluting as he and the others walked back onto the ship."

Mike had briefly explained to the crew in the mess room what the situation was, telling them, they probably wouldn't find anything until first light. He ordered most of the crew to get a couple of hour's decent sleep to recover. A few hours later, He, Kate, R.O., Bird and a few other crew members went up to the bridge in uniform to start the first watch. First light was slowly creeping up on them, turning the sky into a pattern of orange and red. After about 20 minutes, Mike asked:

"Any sign of boats in the region X?" she looked at the blank radar.

"Negative sir, there's no sign at all."

"Sir, we have a distress signal coming in!" said R.O. urgently, all eyes went to him.

"Put it through R.O." he flicked a switch, and took his headphones off. They all listened.

"Mayday, mayday! This is Silver Comet calling a mayday! Can anyone hear us? Please? Anyone?" exclaimed desperate male voice. Mike immediately picked up the receiver.

"Silver Comet, this is Australian Warship Hammersley. What is your situation?" he asked calmly.

"We're on the boat that's stolen the ammo, the Indo's have us hostage! Please! They don't know I'm using the radio and-"

"It's okay, calm down." said Mike professionally. "What's your name?"

"J-J…Joel…." came the hushed and slightly terrified reply.

"Sir! There's something on the Radar!" exclaimed Bird frantically. Kate was immediately at her side.

"It's the Silver Comet. They're just within our reach." Said X quickly, nor daring to take her eyes off the screen. Mike spoke into the radio.

"Okay Joel. Don't worry, we have the vessel on our radar screen, we can see you. You said 'we', how many people are being held hostage?"

"Two! Just me and my sister! Please! We need help! My sister, she's….."

There was a scuffling sound, a shout, and then silence. Everyone on the bridge remained in stunned shock.

"Silver Comet, this is Hammersley. Do you copy?" said Mike.

Nothing.

"Silver Comet, do you read us? Hello?" pressed Mike more urgently.

"Signal's dead sir, we've got nothing." said R.O. looking round from his desk. Mike sighed in frustration. Kate looked up.

"Sir, we've still got them on the Radar. Here's the coordinates." Mike looked down at the radar screen. He turned to the man at the steering controls.

"Blachford, steer 4902, both engines."

"Steering 4902, both engines sir." Replied Blachford, as he turned the ship to the west.

"Bird, can you go wake up Dutchy, Swain, and 2Dads." said Kate to the Gap Girl.

"Yes X." Bird replied.

"Oh, and Bird!" called Kate, as Bird turned to leave. "Tell Bomber some of the crew will be late for breakfast."

"Ok." said Bird, as she rushed off. Kate took the PA mike.

"Hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations."

"R.O. - get Commander White on the line will you?" Mike said, turning to his Radio Officer.

"Yes Sir, right away."

A few minutes later.

"Commander White on the line for you Sir." R.O. said plainly. Mike picked up the phone.

"Maxine, what've you got for me?"

"_Well, we've found out who your caller was. A Mr. Joel McIntyre, 22 years old, works at the __Armed Forces Supplies Centre, near the Docks. It was reported when the weapons were stolen, he was kidnapped when others tried to retaliate. He's got a sister who was also taken aboard for no apparent reason. She's 19, her name's Rosa; she's been living with him since he got the job."_

"So those are our two hostages. And completely innocent." Mike said, as the others looked around in horror at the statement. He sighed, rubbing his forehead in thought. "So, what do we do?"

"_Have you got them on the Radar?"_

"Yes M'am, their on the edge of tit, but we've just set a direct course."

"_Get a boarding Party ready."_

"Already doing right now."

Maxine paused, admiring Mike's efficiency.

"_Good. We need you to retrieve as much weaponry as possible. Its Military equipment and we need to get it out of the wrong hands."_

"Any idea why these pirates have stolen all this?" Mike inquired.

"_They're Indonesian pirates; we suspect illegal trade on the Black Market.__ Just to tell you what you're dealing with Mike; these guys are dangerous. They seemed well trained, so tell your team to watch their backs."_

"Will do Maxine, thank you."

"_Good luck Mike."_ And with that, she hung up. Kate looked worriedly at her CO.

"What did she say?" Mike frowned.

"Indonesian pirates. Trading on the Black Market. Their two hostages are Joel and Rosa McIntyre, 22 and 19, brother and sister. Joel, the one who called us, worked at the Supply Centre. Tell your boarding party to be ready, these guys are very dangerous."

"Yes Sir." said X.

"You should go get ready."

"Right away Sir." X went to leave. Mike then remembered.

"And X… Good luck."

"Thank you Sir." Kate said, unable to hold back a smile.

The sun had started to rise fully now, and the sleepy boarding party were being slowly woken by the harsh breeze that brushed their faces while the small sea boat cut across the water. The Hammersley followed not far behind. 2Dads let out a large and loud yawn. Dutchy and Swain rolled their eyes.

"Now remember! We're looking for a large supply of guns and ammo, plus two Australian hostages! Make sure you check the whole boat!" cried Kate, so she could be heard.

"Yes M'am." came the grouped reply. 2Dads let out another yawn. Dutchy slapped him over the back of the head.

"Wakey, wakey Sleeping Beauty! Stay alert!"

"Do we know anymore about the hostages X? Their conditions?" shouted Swain over the noise.

"Sorry Swain, not even that!"

"There they are X!" cried Dutchy.

They all turned to see a boat, about a third the size of Hammersley cruising steadily along the water about 300 metres away. It read: _Silver Comet. _There were a few people visible on deck. They saw the boarding party and picked up speed. Mike and Kate thought exactly the same thing. He called out using the speaker from Hammersley.

"This is Australian Warship Hammersley. Halt your engines, we intend to board you."

The boat tried to go faster. The sea boat tailed them closely. Mike knew there was no chance of them slowing down.

"Charge, fire 3 shots across their bow." He ordered Charge, who was now at the EOD controls.

"Yes Sir, 3 shots across the bow. Target engaged. Fire!"

He shot accurately. The vessel immediately slowed to a near halt. The boarding party caught up, and the crew leaped onto the boat.

"Australian Navy!" came the cries from the Hammersley crew. There was no one to meet them, but a second later, 3 Indonesian men with rifles jumped out, one of them attempting to tackle Dutchy. It was a poor move. Dutchy grounded him in no time. X, 2Dads, and Swain shouted: "Drop your weapons! Drop them now! Put your hands on your head! Get down now! Drop your weapons!" until one of them lowered his gun, and dropped it. The other did not.

"Who is the master of this vessel?" ordered Kate.

"I am!" answered the one with the gun. He looked furious. "What you doing here? Get off my boat!" she shouted with his thick accent.

"Sir, please lower your weapon." Said Kate once again. The man wasn't showing signs of giving in.

"Now listen here, I-" but Dutchy held his gun close to the man.

"You really should put your gun down sir." He said icily. The man dropped the gun gently, and obeyed Dutchy and Swain by getting down with his hands on his head. X grabbed the guns and moved them. She then addressed the master of the boat.

"We have reason to believe you are hiding Australian weapons and two hostages."

"What rubbish is this? We are fishing!" the man spat angrily. Kate glanced around.

"Well, you don't appear to have any necessary equipment, and you are in illegal waters."

"We are fishing!" the man retaliated. "We no hide nothing!"

"Search the boat. 2Dads, down below. Swain, the inside level deck. Dutchy you stay here. I'll cover the rest of the deck."

They all moved to their assigned positions.

As 2Dads moved carefully below, he kept looking around him. There was no one there, but there was something that felt…sort of creepy. The boat groaned. He turned around, gun pointed, he thought he heard something. Nothing. He sighed in relief. He then turned around, he heard again. A dull thudding sound. He turned a corner, following the sound. It was getting vaguely louder. There were 3 doors, they looked like cupboards.

He opened one- empty. He wrenched open the second. A stack of handguns fell out. These people weren't very good hiders. The thumping sound was getting louder, so he decided to open the 3rd cupboard, knowing there would be more gins in there. He forced it open with one hand. What he saw next, he did not expect. There was a muffled scream, and a body fell out, hands, and ankles tied. It was a young woman. Her tangled brown hair was tied back. She wore a simple t-shirt and knee-length shorts. But the dominant colour she bore was red. It was blood. She had bruises and cuts everywhere, and what looked like a bullet wound in her side. Her scared blue eyes looked at 2Dads in sheer terror and fear as she gasped loudly. He immediately came to her side.

"Whoa!" he cried in surprise. "Hey! Hey! It's ok! I'm Navy! It's okay! Swain! Swain!" he shouted behind his shoulder, trying to untie the girl. She didn't seem to understand what he was doing and weakly tried to resist, still gasping in pain.

"Listen to me! I'm trying to help you!" 2Dads said to her. Swain found them and rushed to them."

"Hey! What's going on?"

"I found her locked in the cupboard, I think she's been shot, she's not listening to me!" Swain moved closer to the girl.

"Listen to me, I'm not gonna hurt you. Are you Rosa?"

The girl paused for a moment, looking into Swain's eyes. He repeated the question. She seemed to understand him. She mouthed: Rosa? Swain nodded his head. "Yes. Are you Rosa?" the girl nodded. She then indicated her ear, copying the shape, and then shaking her hand as if to say No! Swain and 2Dads looked at her confused. She looked desperate to tell them something. She then did more actions, and mouthed:

I (pointing to herself)

CAN'T (shaking her hand to say no.)

HEAR! (Tracing the shape of her outer ear.)

Swain and 2Dads finally seemed to get the message.

"She can't hear. She's deaf!" said Swain quietly.

"Oh my God." muttered 2Dads, under his breath.


	4. Communication is the Key

**Chapter 3:**** Communication is the Key**

"X, we have found one of the hostages, its Rosa. Over." Swain said shakily over the radio. He kept looking at the girl with worry. 2Dads was still in slight shock, but he was doing an alright job trying to calm Rosa down. She had let him untie her, and after signing to them her dilemma, let out a gasp and groaned, holding her side in obvious pain. 2Dads hushed her in reassurance, suddenly remembering she couldn't hear him.

"Copy that Swain, what's her condition?" Kate's voice crackled over the radio. The two men looked at each other, trying to come to some silent agreement as to what they would say.

"Well Ma'am….she's alive, she was tied up. She has cuts and bruises and she may have a bullet wound. But um- Ma'am….she's um, well, she's…deaf. Over." He waited for the reply.

"Repeat that Swain. Over."

"Ma'am, she's deaf, as in hearing impaired. She used basic signs to tell us, she seems to be able to lip read slightly, she recognised her own name. But, she can't tell us anything else. Over." He swore he could hear the X sigh. She then responded.

"Okay then. Any sign of the other hostage?"

"Negative Ma'am. No sign."

"Can you move her? Rosa?"

"I don't know. I'll need a minute, 2Dads and I can try, but I don't know sign language, so we'll need to work out some way of communication. Over."

"Alright. I'll tell the Captain."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Oh, Swain- any sign of the weapons?"

"Yes Ma'am. There's probably 100 down here, they don't appear loaded."

"Alright then. Continue Swain."

Kate turned around on the deck, facing Dutchy. He looked at her with concern, not hearing the conversation.

"Ma'am? Is everything alright?" he asked. Kate looked straight at him.

"I don't know, but they've just gotten a lot harder."

"Sir, this is X, we've found on of the hostages. Over."

Mike, on Hammersley picked up the receiver immediately.

"Which one X? What's the situation?"

"Well, we've got the crew members under control; there are only 3 of them. A large number of guns have been found."

"Right. Good work. What's the condition of the hostage? Who did you find?"

"It's Rosa Sir, she's injured, but Swain and 2Dads are handling the situation. There's no sign of Joel. But, um…Sir, there's a problem with Rosa…..she's- well, she's deaf. She can't hear. Over."

Dutchy stared at Kate in shock and confusion; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was a brief silence from Mike, as there was with Swain and X.

Charge, R.O., Bird, and the 2 other crew on the Bridge all turned to look up at the Captain, as they reacted silently with the strange news. Mike seemed to recover from the surprise well, as was expected of a Captain.

"Right. Can they get her off the boat safely?"

"I don't know sir, Swain and 2Dads are working on it, I'll check up on them now."

"Okay X- let me know as soon as you return. Over and out."

"A deaf girl taken hostage Sir? What on earth for?" Charge questioningly, with a hint of anger coming through.

"Her brother worked for the company who was robbed. They were both taken when staff tried to stop the pirates. It's just the worst circumstances."

"Sicko's." R.O. muttered to himself. What could possess people do such crazy things?

At the same time, 2Dads and Swain were having some success with Rosa. They had now gained her trust; Swain was now examining her injuries, while 2Dads kept her still, and held her hand when she reacted to the pain. The bullet wound had only grazed her side, and had finally stopped bleeding. She had cuts and bruises everywhere. Her arms, legs, stomach, all displayed the sickening abuse she had suffered. She had a large cut across her tanned cheek; a patch of red and purple surrounded it. Her blue eyes still shone with fear. Her breathing was still shallow and fast. In other words, she was scared. Very scared.

"Okay 2Dads, we need to tell her that we're gonna get her off the boat."

"How?" he said dismally.

"I don't know! Unless you know appropriate sign language, we need to figure something else out! Now, we need to let her know its going to be okay, and we need her to come with us. Okay?"

"Yeah. Piece of cake." said 2Dads unsurely. He looked straight at Rosa. What the hell, here goes:

"Rosa? Rosa?" he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. He knew she still couldn't hear him, but she looked at him in desperate concentration. "We-"he pointed to himself and Swain. "Need to get you" he pointed to her. "Off the boat." He pointed to the corridor, where the stairs were. She looked at him in confusion. _"Geez!"_ he thought. _"This is hard!"_ He was speaking to her slowly, _"how hard could it be right?"_ he tried again.

"Off the boat!" he pointed again to the stairs. "Come with us!" he beckoned for her to come forward. "Come with us! We'll help you!" he held out his hands to her in asking. _"Come on, please understand."_ His thoughts begged. Swain calmly repeated the last few actions.

Rosa looked at the two of them, knowing they couldn't sign properly to her. She looked from Swain to 2Dads in scared concentration, then locking her gaze on 2Dads, slowly nodded, breathed out loudly. She took his hands in her own- a sign she understood. Swain and 2Dads both breathed a loud sigh of relief. Progress. _"Thank God! I can't believe this is working!"_ thought 2Dads to himself. Swain was thinking quite similarly.

"Alright. Good work 2Dads. Now, we might have to carry her if she can't support herself. We just need to make sure we keep her head, and her torso stable. She may have concussion, and that bullet graze is serious. Ask her to try and stand up."

"Ok." 2Dads put one arm around Rosa's back, and using his other arm, tried to indicate for her to stand. Swain got ready to catch her. She tried, but couldn't stay straight- gasping in pain, and collapsing back down again. Swain helped ease her fall. She shook her head in submission. The two men looked at each other.

"Well, that didn't work. 2Dads, do you think you can carry her?" 2Dads looked up at Swain, to Rosa, then back to Swain.

"Yeah. I reckon." At that moment, Kate's voice came over on the radio.

"Swain and 2Dads, how's it going?" she said. Swain answered.

"2Dads is gonna try and carry her up here, she can't support herself. And we need the others to collect the guns when we get up. How's things up there?"

"We've got them on the sea-boat. Under strict supervision. We'll send 2 others with bags in a second. I'll let you go. Over and out."

Swain turned his attention back to 2Dads and Rosa, who was still breathing rapidly, understanding what 2Dads was about to do. He got her to lean against the wall, while he brought his hands under and around her, and gently lifted her bridal style. She let out a quick moan, but closed her mouth to shut herself up. 2Dads moved very carefully and ducked his head as he approached the stairs. He tried not to lose vision when the light started to come down on them.

"X!" he called "She's here!" as they got to the top of the stairs. Rosa was clutching him for dear life, not letting go. 2Dads did not want to let go of her right now either. Swain quickly followed them. 2 men went down the stairs with large sacks. Kate told them to hurry. They did.

2Dads gingerly passed Rosa to Dutchy, who put her carefully at the back of the boat. Thankfully, the noise of the boat wouldn't worry her. She clenched her fists, and Swain and 2Dads stayed right by her. The pirates were being guarded at the front of the boat, and looked stingily at Rosa. Dutchy pointed his gun at them, and they all looked down.

X and the last of the men with bulging sacks hopped onto the boat. She shouted "Okay! Let's go!" they sped off back to Hammersley. Kate waved to Mike, and he understood they were returning. Once again, 2Dads was holding Rosa's hand; she kept looking at him with an expression he couldn't quite work out. So much was written all over her face, _"Poor thing's probably still scared to death."_ He thought. Now that wasn't something he'd think often, not sympathy. That _was not_ 2Dads. But there was something different about this girl, woman, _Rosa_. She gave him a small smile, before gasping in shock and slowly closing her eyes.

"No! Rosa! Rosa, come on!" shouted Swain and 2Dads, knowing shouting did nothing. 2Dads shook her shoulder, hoping she would wake up. He prayed in his head that she wouldn't die. She couldn't. If she did, he swore he'd never forgive himself.

**What d'ya think so far? Am I freaking you out with suspense yet? Will Rosa live? More to come as soon as term ends. Holidays start Friday! Yay!**


	5. MAJOR AUTHOR APOLOGY!

**PAY ATTENTION: MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR AUTHOR'S UPDATE!**

**Okay, I bet you're all ready to throw something at the screen when you see this is just an author's apology. But I really mean it. Just keep reading:**

**To all my loyal subscriber/reviewers/people who read any of my fics, thank you so much for bearing with me so far. I've kept some of you on cliff-hangers for quite some time now, and you're probably all ready to fall of cause I've been so slack.**

**This message is for all my stories (excluding POTC, I gave up on that, I'll eventually get back to it) So that's: Merlin, Sea Patrol, Latest Buzz, Star Trek 09, and Maddigan's Quest. Sorry to disappoint you further, but I'm just warning you, you most likely will not see anything out of me for about a week. My yearly exams are on this week, and I have too much studying to do. I've been temporarily "banned" from Fanfiction, but I'll try and sneak some time in during my frees. And I'm trying to complete the NaNoWriMo comp. 50,000 word novel in a month. I've got a lot to go.**

**So, I'm currently in the middle of finishing Star Trek Ch5, Merlin Ch6, Sea Patrol Ch4, and Latest Buzz Ch4. Giving the others a break for now. Hope that's okay. I promise I'll keep working. I've had a rather bad spell of writer's block, so hopefully, some of you can empathise, or even better- sympathise with me here. Again, sorry for the further delays. Life is too busy.**

**Your stressed-exhausted-busy-overly-committed-creative author;**

**G-4077 **


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